


First Shoot His Horse

by TheWitlessWonder



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime 2003), Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: I shouldn't be writing this, Marvel - Freeform, Winter Soldier AU, and i'm so sorry, but I will try to write this because I need it to exist, i don't have time, i'm actually a terrible writer, i'm just... so sorry, it's gonna be a mess a mixture of fma 03 and fmab canon, soooo strap in
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-12
Updated: 2015-07-12
Packaged: 2018-04-08 23:13:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4324467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWitlessWonder/pseuds/TheWitlessWonder
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prince Ling, under the protection of Lan Fan and Fu, must find the secret to immortality and all clues point toward Amestris. Shortly after their arrival at Amestris to begin search for the philosopher’s stone Lan Fan goes missing, the search for the stone is postponed instead of a mission to save Lan Fan from whatever fate lays in store for her, but can they find her before it’s too late?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Masked Follower

**Author's Note:**

> (this is basically a Winter Soldier AU so ready your tissues because I'll need them because I'm crying) There will be a series of flashbacks later on explaining how on earth characters get to where they are and how canon ties in etc. I'm still planning bits and pieces so I doubt that I'll update too regularly but you never know... I hope you enjoy reading!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lan Fan begins to question her lack of name and memory after an encounter with a masked stranger.

Someone was following her; which wasn’t exactly convenient when on your way to assassinate someone. They weren’t being subtle, which was either due to their lack of tact or was because they didn’t need to be. There was no way that it was just coincidence that they were walking the same route, especially given the fact that her shadow was circumventing the rooftops above her.  The only explanation was that they were there to stop her.

 

 _Good luck_ , she thought as she ducked further into the shadows of the alleyway she was walking down. The map they’d marked her path on had shown there was a close about ten paces ahead, she’d wait there for them, either they’d drop from the rooftops and she’d deck them and keep on her mission or they’d assume she’d doubled back or given up: either way her follower would be out of her hair.

 

She could sense that he’d stilled on the rooftops; almost at the very moment she’d stilled in the confines of the close. That was... interesting... A form dropped gracefully from rooftop to window ledge to ledge until she could make out that it was a masculine form; they were brazenly making their way down towards her.  They didn’t drop from the last ledge; instead perched there, about 20 feet above the ground.

 

Somehow during their descent she’d slid back towards the wall, which her back now pressed into tightly, she felt uneasy in his presence and the unfamiliar feeling gave her goose bumps.  She watched as their eyes focussed firmly on her—all the while everything inside her screamed to fight, to run away, to _move_ —and his eyes were all she saw but the mask he wore.   As they lifted the mask up to reveal their face all she could do was frown in bewilderment at his expression of sheer jubilation—was catching an assassin really a moment worthy of such cheer?

 

“Lan Fan...?” The name slipped past his lips with his tone a mixture of disbelief and reverence she’d never had directed at her, not in her memory, but the words meant nothing to her.

 

“Who the hell is Lan Fan?”

 

Like that the boy’s face contorted into a look of utter despondency and he dropped from his perch, moving toward her, as if being closer to her would jog her memory.  Frozen in place, she took in the mask perched atop his head and his hand reaching out toward her. At his touch, instinct overrode shock, her left hand gripped his wrist and twisted, he sprang free from her hold the mask falling back over his face.

 

As she swiped her foot out to kick his legs out from under him his reflexes failed and he hit the ground hard.  Distractedly, almost, he just barely blocks a punch aimed for his face.  Rolling away from her, but not quick enough, she lands a punch to his gut, winding him, the force of it somehow causing the mask to slip (or maybe he took it off instead of trying to avoid her hit?) and then her other fist hits him square against his cheekbone with a sickening sound.

 

The last rendered him unconscious but not before she saw the look in his eyes. 

 

Her breathing’s barely changed during the exchange but she doubts that he put any effort into fighting her in the first place, which is unusual.  And he isn’t dead, which is an unusual end for a fight against her. Unworried about him waking up anytime soon she picks up the mask that lies beside his unconscious form. It’s an unusual mask, definitely not Amestrian, but then the boy hadn’t been either. No, he’d been Xingese by the looks of him. _Xingese like me._ She shook her head at that thought, _I’m not anything._

 

Tentatively, she traced the lines of colour on the mask, fingers tracing first the red and then the black, fingertips resting on the centre symbol.  Her brow creased in thought, _masks are good for one thing, that’s hiding._ Looking back down at the boy she wondered why he was hiding or what. It was broad daylight, what use was a mask for hiding? _No, It’d draw attention and it clearly isn’t Amestrian made so that would raise more questions._ Wearing a mask like that in the light of day was a sure-fire way of being locked up as an illegal alien.

 

So what did it mean? Her mind wandered to the extent that for a while she was unaware of her surroundings.  All the possible meanings behind a masked boy following her running through her head until a thought, like a dam, prevented her from travelling any further down that river: _kill the lieutenant then come right back to us._

 

She looked down at the mask she was gripping in her right hand, the way she held it tight and the tears she could feel brimming behind her eyelids made her certain it was familiar somehow.  She saw the red and black lines and the symbol on its forehead but no memories rushed back to her.   _I must just be tired_ , she thought as she let the mask dropped to the concrete beside the unconscious boy. _But... he said he knew me... He called me Lan Fan._

The name made her head hurt.  Trying to recall anything brought on a headache, or maybe it just worsened the dull ache that was already there; was _always_ there, thrumming inside her skull making it difficult to think at all.  _He was probably confused;_ her eyes wandered back to the boy laying there, the mask by his feet. _I must just look like someone he knows. No one knows me_. She wanted to let out a wry laugh as she thought _it isn’t that no one knows me... I’m just... no one._

 

Without looking back she set off toward where the lieutenant would be, the sky dimming to welcome night.  The ease with which she would complete her goal was weighing heavily in her mind, more heavily even, than the gnawing feeling that that boy was important to her somehow or so she told herself. _He doesn’t matter, and how could he have known me when I don’t remember him at all_ , she felt her mind quiet for a moment. _But... I don’t remember anything..._ she felt her pulse throb at her forehead _if my memories are completely gone, who’s to say that memories of him aren’t gone too?_ Her headache worsened until she let her tears pour down her cheeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the sake of my sanity I'm keeping this chapter up: the timeline I had planned wasn't in sync with FMA canon as I wanted it to be so I'm switching things up accordingly. The events in this chapter may change; for now the following chapters occur before this one.


	2. The Largest Appetite in All of Xing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lan Fan begins to tail the Elric brothers and Winry only to discover that she may not be the only one shadowing them...

The young lord was at it again. Pretending to be passed out from hunger, playing the part of the beggar and all in the name of free food, Lan Fan would never admit it but sometimes the young lord played the part of the fool convincingly.  Other times it was so convincing she wasn’t certain he was acting.  If they stayed here much longer Rush Valley would only be filled with people who had wised up to the prince's con. She watched with bemusement from the rooftop where she was perched, keeping an eye out for any sordid types. Of course it was unlikely that an assassin might be sent after the prince but Lan Fan did not take her duty lightly.  
   
As his bodyguard and one of his trusted protectors she would not allow any harm to befall her prince.  
   
“Lan Fan!” Ling shouted out to her, catching her attention but not before she saw, out of the side of her eye, a rather large looking... man? And a tall woman, with long dark curls, who had a tattoo on her chest—of what Lan Fan hadn’t managed to ascertain before her lord called for her. She’d have to mention those two to Fu, more than instinct told her that there was more to them than met the eye, the big one’s Qi had felt...like a maelstrom, like too much Qi for just one person. It felt foul.  
   
Gracefully, she traversed downwards from her place on the roof to where Ling waited, her movements were silent, _almost flight like_ mused someone who watched her .  Ling sat with his back to a wall, looking as unlordlike as could be, grinning up at her.  
   
“My lord,” she answered, bowing her head.  
   
Though it shouldn’t have been possible, somehow, Ling’s grin became wider and with a brisk gesture a buffet seemed to materialise in front of the pair.  Where had he been hiding all that food? And what poor soul had Ling bankrupted this time? It did look delicious, but she was his bodyguard and Amestris was a land none of them had ever set foot in before. She couldn’t leave the lord unguarded no matter how hungry she was, her duty was with Fu as the prince’s protector.  
   
“I should get ba—“  
   
“ _Sit_ , Lan Fan, eat with me. You must be hungry after all that work; I know I am.”  
   
As if on cue her stomach grumbled, rather loudly, blushing furiously she internally reprimanded it. _My own stomach a traitor, gah, you’re more loyal to him than I am..._ Without a word she sat with the prince and began eating, she didn’t eat half as noisily or enthusiastically as him but she did eat as much, which was unusual.  
   
“My, Lan Fan you’ve eaten more than I have!”  
   
“You think so?”  
   
In the time it took Lan Fan to finish chewing to speak Ling had inhaled—can you really call it eating if there is no chewing involved?—an entire bowl’s worth of what Lan Fan thought was noodles.  She couldn’t be certain because it was there one moment and gone the next.  
   
“I doubt that anyone in the whole of Xing could possibly eat more than you. I doubt that anyone alive could.”  
   
Ling couldn’t argue.  There almost definitely wasn’t a person in Xing that could eat more than he could; Lan Fan and Fu had guarded him at many competitive eating contests.  Ling held first place in Xing’s biggest contest and he had done so the last 4 years. His appetite was rivalled by few, if any.  
   
“Maybe Amestris will challenge you,” Lan Fan had meant in regards to the prince’s eating, but something about Amestris filled her with unease.  It felt as if something was building, a pressure, and she had no way of guessing what would happen when that pressure became too much. The longer they spent on Amestrian soil the more certain she was that there was no maybe about it.  
  
"I've been reading," Lan Fan bit her lip to keep her smart comment to herself, "and I think there's a real chance at finding the key to immortality here in Amestris."  
  
Lan Fan raised her eyebrows, when the prince didn't continue with his train of thought she encouraged him, "You have an idea of where it is? Or how to find it?"  
  
"I couldn't but overhear that blond kid over there and it would seem we're looking for the same thing."  Ling feigned a sheepish expression, "I think we could learn a lot from a little eavesdropping don't you?" Without awaiting a reply Ling resumed his feast.  
  
Lan Fan knew who the young lord was referring to, a short boy with a blond ponytail who walked alongside a large man in a suit of armor, there was a blonde girl with them too.  Standing, she placed her mask and pulled up her hood sensing as Fu rejoined them, for a few more seconds she watched as the trio chatted, the girl was shouting at the short boy and Lan Fan thought she heard the girl shout "alchemy freak" at one point. Eavesdropping was easy, all it required was staying in hearing range but out of sight.  
  
"I'll be back when I learn what we need."

  
Ling only smiled and Fu gave a brief nod and then Lan Fan disappeared into what few shadows the Amestrian buildings cast.  
  
There were a few things Lan Fan had learned about these Elrics and Winry; Winry was an automail mechanic and, according to Edward a "machine freak" and Ed was a state alchemist and, as Winry had shouted earlier he was an "alchemy freak".  Those two argued a lot, she suspected that this was normal for them judging from the armored man's unfazed response to them.  Lan Fan didn't hear much from Alphonse (the younger of the two, she guessed, which would explain why the short one-- _did Edward just glance toward me? I'd better stop calling him the short one just in case_ \--was so sensitive about his height) though he seemed to take on a sort of peace keeping role as the other two squabbled.

  
Possibly the most important thing Lan Fan learned was that they were being followed by someone, or some _thing_ by the feel of its Qi, she hadn’t noticed its presence at first convinced that it was just residual effects of the large man from before. But when they strayed farther and farther from the centre of town she became certain that this was different Qi, the same taint but less of it.

Their being followed was a good sign: perhaps they already had the key to immortality; the young prince would be very pleased with that.  They would be able to return to Xing as soon as possible if that were the case... though Lan Fan found herself doubting that.

“If I want to be able to give you the best automail there is: I need to learn from him!”

Lan Fan stilled as the trio stopped walking, Winry was breathing hard and had a look of determination on her face akin to how Ling had looked when he vowed to attain immortality, and she found herself fixated as she watched Ed self consciously scratch at the nape of his neck.  The boy blew out a breath and was the picture of regret as he looked at Winry.

“Okay Winry, I’m sorry.”

Lan Fan heard him mutter something but she couldn’t tell what and then that feeling of wrongness became stronger.  Whoever was following them wasn't trailing as far behind as before. Whoever or  _whatever_ was going to make their move.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm having a lot of fun piecing this story together! It's quite a slow set up but I think it'll pay off (eventually)


	3. Tourists And Their Chimeras

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chess board is still being set and it seems that someone wants Lan Fan as their pawn. Who are they? And why Lan Fan?

Lan Fan had watched in amazement as a girl with an automail leg stole Edward’s pocket watch and took off sprinting.  The ponytailed boy took off after her without hesitation and raven haired Lan Fan, mask firmly in place had managed to go unnoticed during the chase as she followed close behind.  She soared through the air as a bird would and leapt from rock to rock trailing behind Ed the same as his ponytail—though unlike his ponytail her motions were deliberate and fluid—she glided behind him at a pace that kept him in her sights.

 

 _Glorious,_ thought someone from the shadows, _such a fantastic show of agility and stamina..._

 

When Edward finally caught the girl (saved her life really) Lan Fan was quite out of breath, _automail must really be something,_ she put her hands on her knees as she panted, _I think the automail gives them an advantage..._ She watched as Paninya introduced herself and chatted with the trio and decided it wasn’t prudent to follow them any longer. She knew where to find the Elrics, had briefly heard them talk about a philosopher’s stone and that was all the information the prince needed, they could simply ask about their findings if need be, following them to Dominic, the automail mechanic’s home would be a fruitless task.

 

On her jog back to Ling and Fu she thought back to the alchemy she had witnessed Ed use, how rock had been drawn up to him to make a path, it was difficult not to be impressed by such a show of power. _And that’s what he can do during a game of cat and mouse..._ she dreaded to think how such power could be used in a fight, especially if the alchemist intended to kill.  A shudder lanced through her and then she realised it wasn’t the thought of alchemy that caused it but a sudden toxic density surrounding her.

 

“Little bird,” it was a man’s voice, almost shrill as it called out to her from somewhere in the darkness of nightfall.

 

The Qi was smothering her, was too heavy, wasn’t human... or not entirely.  She kept jogging and then the thing was in front of her. Cloaked in fabric, the origin of the Qi loomed over her, moonlight glinting off a pair of glasses.  _Is that a human face?_ She feared it was, as he stepped closer she felt that density build to a pressure she almost couldn’t stand under the weight of.  Lan Fan feinted right then made a dash to the left but the thing before her was too stocky. Despite her advantage in speed she couldn’t move fast enough to get out of the broad range of the creatures reach.

 

The large trench coat fell to the ground revealing an ox with the head of a human man.

 

Lan Fan was aghast at the sight of such a monstrous chimera. _There’s nowhere for me to go except further into the mountains, can I even outrun an ox? Maybe I can circle him and run back to town... I have to. I will, the young lord needs my protection._   She took a deep, calming breath, trying not to react to the cloying Qi around her.  Slowly she started moving so as to step a circle around him.

 

 _If this chimera was following the Elrics then he wouldn’t be here...was he following...me?_ She gulped, eyes focused on his twisted-upside-down face as she asked, “Who are you? What do you want?” her voice unwavering through sheer power of will. 

 

“What I want?” his voice was too loud in the silence of the night, a voice which was somehow that of a soft spoken man but seemed to reverberate and come out as a bass all at the same time.  It hurt her head and as he repeated the question over and over again, her steps faltered and she had to cover her ears. _Why does it hurt so much, it feels like my skull is engulfed in flame,_ letting out a hiss of pain she tried to run for it, she dashed off diagonally then back on herself towards the town.

 

The air felt heavier too, like it was feeding real flames but she could feel her cool skin beneath her fingers, the fire was only in her head and it wasn’t the air—not oxygen or any gas feeding the pain which thrummed inside her head until she feared she’d forget her name.  _It’s his Qi... no, not his..._ Lan Fan opened her eyes which had squeezed shut of their own accord against the feeling and she saw them, the woman with her strange tattoo and the thing with too much Qi. 

 

They were blocking the way into town, everything about their Qi warned her to stay away, but she was trapped.  She was trapped between a toxic chimera and two inhuman beings with no way out, instinct told her none of her usual tricks could save her from this.

 

The chimera stopped chanting the question.

 

Lan Fan looked up at the stars, it felt like she was home in Xing if only for a moment, tears slipping silently down her cheeks, “I’ve failed you, young lord, forgive me.”

 

“Oh, how touching.” Lust pressed her hand to her chest, mouth twitching upward at one side in a smirk as she watched the girl cry with her head turned skyward. As a second thought she murmured, “Gluttony, dear, I think you’re giving the poor thing a headache... take a few steps back, thank you.”

 

When it did as it was told the pounding in her head dulled down to a throb and then a pulse and then a quiet ache.

 

“ _My_ little bird...” the chimera chanted now, quietly as if in question.

 

Gluttony was stepping from foot to foot, watching the chimera near Lan Fan, “Please Lust, can I eats it? I’m so hungry, always hungry.” His mouth wide open and drooling: the same symbol on Lust’s chest became visible on his impossibly large tongue.  The thing did not repeat itself unlike the chimera which was still murmuring.

 

 _The Qi,_ thought Lan Fan as she kept her eyes on the stars, unwilling to look at who would inevitably kill her, _that thing’s Qi... it’s... it’s thousands of lost souls._ A cry of anguish ripped from her throat as she fell to her knees, _I’m going to join them, become one of those screaming souls, one lost among many in a sea of death_.  The tears had stopped, her hands becoming fists in her anger, she had failed her lord.

 

Lust seemed to ponder it a moment, still smirking, “Hmmm, no Gluttony, I’m sure I have a better idea.”

 

“My little bird??” the chimera chattered excitedly.

 

A long nailed finger shot out toward Lan Fan from the few metres away where Lust stood, a startled gasp left the girl as she felt the tendril draw blood from her chin, her head forced up by the motion.  Withdrawing it from her chin, deliberately drawing more blood as she did so, Lust walked toward her.  When they were finally face to face—or as near to it given their height difference—Lust leaned down, curls shrouding all visual but their faces.

 

Lust pressed her lips to Lan Fan’s ear, whispering mock conspiratorially, “I’ve just had the most _wonderful_ idea,” she took a deliberate pause letting her breath pass across the bodyguard’s skin before continuing, “Shall we play a little game with your prince, hmm?”

 

And then she was walking back toward Gluttony, both he and the chimera having heard everything, Lan Fan let out a sound of pure anger.

 

“Why? Why are you doing this? What do you stand to gain?”

 

The woman didn’t even pause in her slow walk back to Gluttony as she replied, with a shrug “Why not? Your prince wants the same thing we do, and want is such a dangerous thing... She’s all yours Tuck, just don’t kill her before I have my fun, alright.”


End file.
